October 24, 2018

  • Legends and Light Reveals 4 New Orchestral Works

     

    Legends and Light
    Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra/Petr Vronsky, Stanislav Vavrinek
    Croatian Chamber Orchestra/Miran Vaupotic
    Navona Records 6187
    Total Time:  64:53
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

     

    Four composers are represented on this new release of contemporary orchestral music.  They represent a somewhat international collection of artists exploring the modern orchestra in multi-movement works.  The album features to chamber orchestra works that bookend two pieces for string orchestra.

    First up is a work by Hans Bakker (b. 1945) from the Netherlands.  His Canzona III Hidden in Her Light is an abstract musical tone poem told through a mostly tonal language.  A series of chords open the piece and a falling motif begins to move us into the first portion of the work.  The idea is set up through repetition that is further colored by different instrumental groupings.  There is an overall tripartite form here can be explored by the three tracks provided to connect to the different tempo divisions.  The music has an almost fairy tale, filmic dramatic flair.  Its central section has a beautiful little melancholy waltz that further explores the motif of the opening.

    Jan Jarvlepp’s (b. 1953) Suite for Strings (2010) is a four-movement work.  The Ottawa-based composer created the piece as a pedagogical tool for young string players.  Each movement explores various technical challenges to help grow the ability of the players.  These include learning to play in shifting meters (“Changing Times”), shifting hand/bow positions physically on the instrument (“Shifting Cargo”), controlling vibrato and phrasing in slow movements (“A Thoughtful Moment”), and exploring syncopation and making additional rhythmic sounds with hands and feet (“Dance of the Monkey Man”).  The music is a nice tonal work with a great sense of play and showcases the different sections well.  It certainly wears well, especially the opening movement.  The joy of musical creation is certainly evident and hopefully as contagious for the work’s younger players.

    Redcliff Gardens is a five-movement suite for strings by English-born composer Clive Muncaster (b. 1936).  Some of these have been performed individually and two are orchestrations of pieces originally for violin and piano (“Stella” and “Girandole”).  The work consists of shorter works that the composer wrote while living in this part of the UK.  The opening “Petronella” is the most substantial movement.  A solo violin does indeed open the work.  The musical language here has that great full English chamber orchestra quality (inherited from the likes of Vaughan Williams and Warlock) that then moves into a beautifully written melodic idea.  The “Fuga Romantica” and final “”Girandole” have an almost Leroy Anderson-like wit.  Gorgeous melodic ideas abound throughout the suite giving us an opportunity to imagine a wonderful day in the English countryside.  The result is work which deserves a place in the repertoire.  The performance here is quite good and makes an excellent case for it.

    (A brief moment of disclosure is needed for the final piece by Shirley Mier.  It was my privilege to be one of the performers in the orchestra for the premiere of this work.  I am delighted to see it receiving its premiere recording here.)

    Shirley Mier lives in Wisconsin and teaches at Century Community College whose orchestra premiered her Of Lakes and Legends.  The piece is in the American tradition of descriptive music based on local history and lore.  In this case, it is the White Bear Lake, MN, region where the college is based.  A variety of solo opportunities are spread throughout the work adding to the colorful unfolding of its various tales.  The opening movement takes its inspiration from the “Legend of the White Bear (Manitou Island)” and musically follows a tragic tale of love between a Sioux woman and a Chippewa warrior which gives rise to the area’s name.  The melodic line helps set this tone well to begin this almost cinematic movement which is also the longest in the suite.  The second movement celebrates the arrival of the railroad to the town in 1868 which helped begin the town’s destination from Saint Paul as a resort destination. It is a delightful dance-like Americana movement.  “Parlor Recital” seeks to recreate a late 19th-Century soiree at one of the mansions in the city (Fillebrown House) and is a wonderful little waltz.  The suite ends with an exciting “Regatta” depicting a water race and reminiscent of Mier’s fine band work, Maiden Voyage.

    Each of the pieces here are all well worth the price of admission and have some truly wonderful discoveries for those who like to explore modern orchestral writing.  Here each composer’s voices create music that is accessible and descriptive.